An expedition to the Rocky Mountains in Canada has to be on every traveller’s bucket list. Shirin Mehta takes a road trip through the western province of Alberta and revels in vistas for the soul, natural hot springs for the body and adventure to boot.
This is breathtaking — literally! I hear myself gasp as the vista of snow-covered mountaintops, white-laden crags and ghostly evergreens unravels below. A large hand has surely reached down and sculpted rugged peaks, gentle hollows, undulating slopes and sheer drops. We are now seemingly compressed between two stark sides of rock, following the gentle flow of the Bow River. The forests are thick, the plains green and the houses minuscule. Is this the highest point of my trip to Alberta, Canada? I wonder. Can it possibly get any better? My first dose of the Rocky Mountains has been agreeably awesome!
The helicopter ride with the Rockies Heli Tours team has been a mere stopover at Stoney Nakoda Resort and Casino, on the road from the city of Calgary to Banff in the mountains. To warm goodbyes, we leave the strip, not much more than a field behind the resort, and continue on our way, in our private coach, to Banff National Park, a unique preserved and protected World Heritage site that virtually offers visitors the same sights that greeted explorers who came to the Rockies over 100 years ago. Established in 1885 as Canada’s first national park, it offers high alpine meadows, jade green lakes, unusual gorges, canyons and rock formations and a tranquillity that is arguably unmatched. We get a dose of this already, as we stop en route at Vermillion Lakes and Bow Falls for photo ops. You may come here for heart-wrenching vistas as also for the wildlife, hoping to catch a glimpse of big horn sheep, elk, moose and mountain goat. And then there’s the hiking, climbing, horseback riding and canoeing; and in the winter, snowshoeing, ice skating, skiing, snowboarding and dog sledding.
COLD MOUNTAIN
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 2016-Ausgabe von Verve.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 2016-Ausgabe von Verve.
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Making Amends
This generation’s penchant for thoughtless consumption gets Madhu Jain roiled up, and she wonders if nature is getting its own back for our missteps…
Diamonds With Provenance
In keeping with the company’s commitment to environmental and social responsibility, Anisa Kamadoli Costa, chief sustainability officer at Tiffany & Co. and chairman and president at The Tiffany & Co. Foundation, enlightens Shirin Mehta on the efforts that make the jewellery giant an industry leader in transparency
SARTORIAL ECONOMICS
Sisters Tashi and Tara Mitra demonstrate to Akanksha Pandey how deviating from the mainstream can bend the way we think, live and dress
NOTES TO SELF
An anthropomorphized tiger’s perspective, a viscerally worded futuristic interpretation of loss, a critique of performative activism, a meta reflection on the earth’s crises. Told through different lenses, Janaki Lenin, Indrapramit Das, Keshava Guha and Roshan Ali’s stories — written exclusively for Verve — attempt to make sense of the fraught reality that we exist in today
The Eternal Optimist
As Generation X and xennials grapple with fully transitioning to conscious living, young millennials and Generation Z are leading the charge to reverse human-caused environmental damage. Sahar Mansoor, founder and CEO of the Bengaluru-based zero-waste social enterprise Bare Necessities, has a simple overarching philosophy: consume less and stay positive. Verve gets deeper into the mindset of the action-oriented earth advocate
Redemption SONGS
Indian music festivals have been demonstrating a refreshing sense of responsibility in terms of their ecological impact. Interacting with stakeholders who strive to make these large-scale events greener, Akhil Sood investigates the reasons behind the improved attitudes of audiences and the increase in corporate support.
earth hour
Crafted using nature’s elements, these dials draw inspiration from the many heterogeneous materials and hues around us.Verve turns its lens onto a mesmerising few
THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
Children are holding adults accountable for both the grim future they are facing and the toll this is taking on their mental health. Madhumita Bhattacharyya initiates conversations with families of young climate activists and observes the extent to which parenting has changed in the face of catastrophe
NATURAL JUSTICE
Most of us are only just waking up to the urgency of climatic action. When the stakes are so high, what can individual action solve? Mridula Mary Paul, an environmental policy expert, is proof of the tenacity needed to effect systemic change. It’s not glamorous, and the rewards are few and far between, but that doesn’t stop her from aiming big, finds Anandita Bhalerao
Along For The Ride
Navigating Indian streets as a woman is hard enough. But what is it like while riding a bicycle? Bengaluru-based Shreya Dasgupta, a regular cyclist, speaks to five urban women about the pros and cons of this increasingly popular means of transport.
